Monday, November 18, 2019

Sentai Suits Through The Ages: The 70's

Super Sentai has had a vast number of suits for its heroes. Naturally these suits have changed in style, vibe, and even material throughout the years. I figured a post like this would be a good way to show how much the franchise has changed over the years as far as aesthetics go. What I'm basically going to do for this series of posts is cover every Sentai team's suits by the decades they aired and each decade will have its own post. Due to this, this post is gonna be the shortest since only 3 Sentai series aired in the 70's.

Himitsu Sentai Gorenger:
The first sentai suits ever. They're rather simple overall but they work well. The markings on the chest and the white stripes do a decent job of breaking up the design and keep it from looking too simple. The belts look pretty good. That white gloves and boots work well on Akaranger and Momoranger and compliment their main colors really well. The black ones on Midoranger, Kiranger, and Aoranger work well with their colors as well. The capes are a really nice touch and we need more of those in the franchise. I could picture the suits without them but capes in general on superhero outfits add extra flourishes with how they react to movements so I'm glad they're there.

JAKQ Dengekitai:
These suits look pretty good. The visors help show off the card motif. The white on the four suits works well with their colors. The gloves matching their main colors is a nice touch and they help balance out the white on the helmets in Dia Jack, Clover King, and Heart Queen's cases. The sash going down the front helps break up what would be a simple design. The belts look pretty cool. Big One's suit is pretty good too. The red, blue, green, and yellow going down the helmet, wrapping around the arms and legs, and going down the chest adds a nice bit of color diversity to the suit. It also helps break up all the white which was kinda needed imo. The red belt buckle looks cool. Plus all 5 suits have capes and capes will never not be cool to me. Like with Gorenger, I can picture the suits without them but they're a good add-on that adds more style to their movements.

Battle Fever J:
These helmets look fantastic and because of the way they're molded they look more like western superhero masks and cowls as opposed to simply being helmets. The white on Battle Japan, Battle France, and Miss America works well with their colors. I particularly love the gymnast look Miss America has and how her helmet has sculpted hair. The green on Battle Kenya really compliments the black on the suit and the yellow on his helmet and his emblem works well with his red eyes. The black on Battle Cossack really compliments the orange and the black highlights on the helmet work well with the red eyes. The scarves on each suit really completes their design and brings everything together. Overall these are my favorite suits from this decade and probably some of the best suits the franchise has ever used.

If I had to pick a phrase that described Gorenger and JAKQ's designs overall, it'd be simple yet effective. If there is one big takeaway I have from Gorenger and JAKQ's designs, its that we need more capes in Sentai. Battle Fever J is the clear standout of this decade and like capes, scarves need to make a comeback in the franchise. The 70's are a good start for the franchise as far as designs go. Next up I will probably cover the 80's tho I make no promises on when that will come out.

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